Leading local and national scholars on race will gather at Rice University Feb. 26-27 for a conference on “The Past and Present of Race and Place in Houston, Texas.” The conference aims to create a dialogue concerning the ways historical and contemporary scholarship can inform one another to benefit the city.

The conference will be Tuesday, Feb. 26, from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Fondren Library’s Kyle Morrow Room. A special plenary session on “The Changing Face of Houston” will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 and will feature Rice’s Alexander Byrd, associate professor of history, and Stephen Klineberg, professor of sociology and co-director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. This talk will be in Baker Hall’s Kelly International Conference Facility.

The conference’s panels will focus on topics and themes such as Houston under Jim Crow laws, migration, culture, labor and poverty.

Hosted by Rice’s Department of History, Humanities Research Center, Kinder Institute for Urban Research and Baker Institute for Public Policy, the conference is free and open to the public. For more information, including the full conference agenda, see http://hrc.rice.edu/raceandplace.